We’re a lawless people - Mensa Otabil

The founder and leader of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Pastor Mensa Otabil, has said if he were president of Ghana, law and order would be his number one priority rather than roads and infrastructure.

According to him, until society is regulated, there will be no hope for its development.

Speaking at the fourth Business Roundtable organised by Yamson and Associates on Wednesday, 31 May, Dr Otabil said: “The way to make things work is that the law must work. When the law works, it will catch all of us, we will all be uncomfortable. It will squeeze all of us because generally we have all become a lawless people. But it has to be fair for all of us to know it works for everybody and over time we will get used to a regulated life because I have noticed that in Ghana, the businesses that grow and survive are the regulated ones, the ones which are properly regulated. When there is proper regulation, businesses grow. The businesses that are not growing are the ones without regulations…so in effect living under strict regulation helps us to grow.”

Dr Otabil said that “if I was a president which I’m not, my number one commitment will not be roads and infrastructure and all of that. My number one commitment will be law and order. Make this a regulated society and the rest will take care of itself. Until we can make Ghana a regulated society it cannot move on.”

Citing other countries as examples, Dr Otabil said: “We talk about Singapore, we talk about South Korea and aside from all the other things, the first thing you would notice or the first thing that gave birth to growth in those societies was law and order.

“Singapore is extremely regulated, all the Asian countries extremely regulated, you go to Dubai extremely regulated [because] you can’t just build anywhere. You go to Europe, well regulated; you come to Africa, not regulated.

“People are talking about Rwanda and what’s happening is regulated. It is regulation; regulation is what makes everything works. When things are regulated, everybody joins the line and everybody works with the process and everybody believes that there is something great at the end for them. I think all the great ideas governments have are right but until we can get the Ghanaian, African to know that they are regulated, there is no hope for us.”